Will Them Into Existence

If The Monsters Didn't Come

Wilbur stifled a laugh into their jacket sleeve as his brother darted between displays, eyes wide and excited as he pointed out ethical flaws.

"Wil! Wil! This one's a PR nightmare!" Thomas exclaimed, pointing at the object inside of the glass tablet case. "They came up with this one a few years back! It has ions of radioactive energy, and when they went up against SI at the last World Fair- SI won, obviously- the U.S. Government got threatened by most of Europe and Asia to terminate the contract or it could be a causation of complete global warfare! I also read that-"  He stopped abruptly, having caught something out of the corner of his eye.

"Toms?" Wilbur asked, hand hovering over his shoulder. "You okay?"

Tom nodded excitedly, pointing wordlessly to the next room over. The large sign above the doorway read 'Bioengineering'. Behind them, the tour group was already moving on, voices trailing further away. Wilbur shook their head, weighing the choices in his mind.

"Tommy, I don't think that's a good idea. We aren't really supposed to be in there alone, yeah? And the group has already moved on. You don't want to miss the bus again, do you?"

The other turned to him, green eyes pleading. "Please? I'll be quick. I promise! Just a look! I bet they have all kinds of cool stuff in there, Wilby, and really, it's a once in a life time opportunity! When will we ever be in one of America's leading technology headquarters again? I mean, it's no SI, but still! It's so-"

Wilbur cut him off with a snort, ruffling the shorter's curly blonde hair. "Okay, you little nerd. Just a quick look. Right?"

Thomas ducked away from their hand, smiling brightly and leading the way to the room. "Yeah! Yeah, just a quick look. And then we can go...I don't know, pretend to be rule enjoyers, I guess."

Wilbur shook his head as they followed their brother, fond and carefree smile resting on his face. This was the first field trip the two had been able to go on in years, since it was all expenses paid and sponsored by their school. It just so happened to work out that Thomas had a high interest for the sciences, particularly that of mechanics and engineering- and, for some reason, ethical dilemmas. Although they verged more for reading and math, liking Chemistry a hell of a lot more than any robotics, he still found the trip exciting, if only just because this was the happiest they'd seen his brother in a few weeks now.

As he entered the room, he looked around, smile falling as his jaw dropped. In neat, clear containers there were thousands of different animals and critters, all with a little plastic card attached detailing what their enhancements and special traits were. In front of them, Tom circled the arachnid section, giggling happily as spiders spun traps and laced webs across their confinements. Wilbur slid up, stomach churning as he bit his tongue and looked away.

"Of all the amazingly cool species in this room, you choose a species of spider? Really?" They asked, skin crawling the longer they watched tiny little legs move out of the corner of their eyes.

"But- but look! Look they're so cool! Their tiny little bodies are factories! They make all that super strong string all alone, Wilbur. Little engineers." Tom said, voice akin to the tone one might use on a particularly cute baby, or someone's new very fluffy dog. "And these ones have been modified! It says here that they have string enhancing qualities- so it's even more strong!"

Tom tutted, running a finger along the plaque. "Sucks though. Made by Oscorp. They're probably radioactive."

Wilbur shook his head, shutting his eyes for a moment to lose sight of the spiders. Tom hummed and stepped away from them, attention now turned to the reptile section across the room. Wilbur leaned forward, intending to rest their arms on his brother's shoulders, and instead crashed into the spider case, sending it and themself sprawling to the ground.

Tommy popped back, hurriedly pulling Wilbur to their feet. "Oh god, Wil, are you okay?"

They rubbed their head, looking down to the floor and sighing in relief when they saw that the container had remained in tact. "Yeah. I'm just glad we don't have to pay for damages." They said, reaching down to grab the container and set it back on it's display table.

Behind him, Tom gasped as they set the container down. "Uh- Wilbur- There's a-"

Wilbur yelped and smacked their hand as a jolt of pain laced through it to the rest of their body, a single now dead spider falling to the floor. Tommy stepped up and hurriedly re-latched the top of the container which had bursted slightly open on impact, looking wildly between the spider and his brother.

"Well. That fucking sucks."

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